It is four weeks into the break and I hope your family is enjoying the summer. This is the fifth year that our school has compiled a "year in review" to share with families as we begin our summer vacation. It is always telling for me to see a year's worth of "bragging" melded into one piece of communication. It tells a wonderful, descriptive story of our students, faculty/staff, parents, and their many contributions to life at Stratford Academy. We have a great deal to be proud of and I am thankful for the part that each one of you played.

Class of 2017

71 students

44% of class earned $3.8 million in merit scholarships, not including HOPE

49% of class graduates with honors

55% of seniors who were students 12+ years are honor graduates

Five National Merit Commended Scholars

Earned acceptances to 81 colleges/universities across the country

The Telegraph Golden Eagle Winner in English, Honorable Mention in Music and Journalism

Two letters of commitment to play collegiate athletics

The Class of 2017 was accepted to the following colleges/universities. The schools in bold type represent the class matriculation:

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural CollegeUniversity of Alabama University of Alabama at BirminghamAlbany State UniversityAppalachian State UniversityUniversity of ArizonaAuburn UniversityAugusta UniversityBelmont UniversityBerry CollegeUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, DavisUniversity of California, IrvineUniversity of California, Santa CruzCincinnati Christian UniversityThe CitadelCoastal Carolina UniversityCollege of CharlestonUniversity of Colorado at BoulderEmory UniversityFashion Institute of TechnologyFlorida State UniversityFort Valley State UniversityFurman UniversityGeorgetown University Georgia College and State University Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Southern University Georgia State University University of Georgia Gettysburg CollegeGordon State College University of HartfordHarvard UniversityIndiana University-Purdue UniversityJacksonville UniversityKennesaw State University University of KentuckyLouisiana State UniversityMercer University University of MiamiMiddlebury CollegeUniversity of Mississippi Morehouse CollegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillNorth Carolina State UniversityUniversity of North Georgia-Dahlonega Northeastern UniversityOglethorpe UniversityOhio Northern UniversityOklahoma City UniversityThe University of OklahomaOxford College of Emory UniversityPace UniversityPennsylvania State UniversityPoint Park UniversityPresbyterian CollegePurdue UniversityUniversity of RichmondRider UniversitySavannah College of Art and DesignSewanee: The University of the SouthShenandoah UniversityShorter UniversityUniversity of South CarolinaUniversity of South FloridaSouthern Methodist UniversitySyracuse UniversityUniversity of Tennessee, KnoxvilleTexas Christian UniversityThe Ohio State UniversityValdosta State UniversityVirginia TechUniversity of VirginiaWake Forest UniversityUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of West Georgia Western Michigan UniversityWright State UniversityYale University

AcademicsThere is no question that our Upper School students follow a rigorous and challenging schedule. They balance academic responsibilities while over 90 percent of them are involved in some school-related extracurricular activity. This year, 26 students were inducted into Foreign Language Honor Societies and 32 students earned membership in the Beta Club. The math team continued to dominate tournaments earning their fifth consecutive first place finish at the Math Olympiad, while the academic bowl team followed suit by finishing first at the Middle Georgia Quiz Bowl. This summer, we have a student participating in the Governor's Honors Program for social studies. The Stratford Chess Team placed fifth at the National Chess Championship and many of these students are now heavily involved in the student-led Chess Empowerment organization. Not to mention, Stratford has a student serving as one of five youth leaders from across the country on the National League of Cities' Youth Council on Education and Families. Upper school students also hosted visiting students from China, Japan and France, while sending groups to Belize and Spain to study/travel.

Middle School students are not far behind in activities and accomplishments with 80 percent of students participating in a school-sponsored sport. This year, 55% of seventh graders earned Duke TIP recognition, including three students who were recognized at the state level and one student who attended the Grand Recognition Ceremony for placing nationally. For the second year, the math team claimed a top area honor as the Middle Georgia Chapter MathCOUNTS winner. The Quiz Bowl team brought home the first place trophy for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival tournament. Two students were selected as inaugural participants in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy year-long program presented by the Chamber of Commerce.

The most exciting happening for our Lower School students and staff was beginning the year in the brand new Cantrell Lower School. Having a space for 21st learning for our first through fifth graders has been for our school for a number of years and everyone loves their new classrooms and spaces. The Odyssey of the Mind afterschool enrichment gained substantial popularity and sent three teams to competition. Team Robot surprised everyone by receiving the coveted Ranatra Fusca award at state and qualifying for the world competition, where they placed 12th out of 54 teams. Speaking of national attention, how about fourth grader math teacher, Phyllis Elder, earning first place for all educators in Georgia and finishing first in the nation for all fourth grade educators and tenth in the nation for all educators. Mrs. Elder was the only Stratford Eagle earning math accolades, as students were recognized by the Math Olympiad, Georgia Math League contest and Math 24. Our Lower School students also competed in the Stock Market game and placed first and second against other Middle Georgia area teams representing local high schools and colleges. It was also fun to see fourth grade teacher, Bill Reynolds, and his emotional side when he was surprised with the WMAZ "My Teacher is Tops" honor.

Our littlest Eagles are just as busy as the rest of our students. There is always a unique learning opportunity during "Farm Fridays", the Royal Wedding of Q and U, 100th Day, Dr. Seuss's birthday, Preschool Pow Wow and the Mother's Day Tea. Farm Friday creator and kindergarten teacher, Andrea Seagraves, was honored at the National AG in the Classroom conference with a Cenex and Harvest Street Foundation Teacher Scholarship.

Fine ArtsStratford theatre department continued with the tradition of including opportunities for students in grades 1-12. The year began with 31 cast/crew members presenting three performances of "Carrie, The Musical" and earning one all-star cast honor at one-act competition. The winter musical, "Once Upon a Mattress", was presented by 100 cast/crew members from grades 1-12 and the spring production "Dream" featured 66 students. Some of the most deserving honors were bestowed upon theatre director, Sylvia Haynie. Nominated by her senior drama students, Haynie received one of 20 honorable mentions for Excellence in Theatre Award presented by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, she was one of five local recipients of the Education Together Teacher Excellence award given by The Telegraph during the Golden Eagle awards.

Music students earned recognition with the High School District Honor Jazz Band, High School District Honor Band, High School South Region Honor Band, UGA Band/Color Guard Festival and the Georgia All-State Band. One recent graduate will continue with her band career as she marches with the UGA Redcoat Marching Band beginning in the fall.

Stratford artists earned five of the 10 awards given at the Kiwanis Club Art and Talent Show, one senior won the Morning Music Club Joseph Maerz Award and another senior was selected for the All-State Art Symposium. The Literary Team placed first or second in eight of the 12 categories sending 11 students to compete at state where they placed third overall.

AthleticsStratford athletics is comprised of 55 Middle and Upper School teams representing 16 sports. Over 80 percent of students participate in at least one school-sponsored team. Not to mention, the hundreds of Lower and Preschool students who participate in youth sports programs such as football, SISL soccer and basketball.

For 2016-2017, 13 varsity teams competed in state-level competition. Stratford athletic teams were recognized by the Regions Bank Directors Cup by earning first place overall for Region 7A and ninth place overall for Class A. Boys' tennis clinched the state and area championship titles while boys' track claimed the area championship and girls' basketball won region competition.

Our high school student-athletes also earned impressive recognition with 17 named to All-Region teams, 17 to All-Area teams, and 18 were named to The Telegraph's All-Middle Georgia teams for softball, football, boys/girls tennis, boys/girls soccer, boys track, baseball, swimming and golf. These students were also named All-Middle Georgia Boy/Girl Tennis Player of the Year, GACA All-State, AJC All-State, DiVarsity Student-Athlete of the Year, WMAZ Student-Athlete of the Week, Macon Touchdown Club Lineman of the Week (twice) and Specialist of the Year and Sunday Stars by The Telegraph. Stratford coaches also accumulated their own honors with Coach Ed Smith receiving the Coach of the Year (girls basketball) for GHSA Region 7A and Coach Jaime Kaplan posting her 300th coaching career win and receiving the USTA Georgia Tennis Coach of the Year award.

CommunityWhile it feels like we spend a great deal of our time at 6010 Peake Road, students also put in many hours in our community. This year, students completed 9,387 community service hours and over half of this year's graduates earned over 100 hours during their high school careers. The fourth annual SOS (Stratford Out Serving) Day in April had students at locations across the city serving our community. Stratford students also earned some prestigious recognitions for their community involvement including Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission Youth of the Year, Mentors Project of Bibb County Youth of the Year, Macon's Earth Day Student of the Year, and Macon Exchange Club Student of the Month. Schoolwide initiatives were also led by student groups for the following organizations: Ronald McDonald House, American Red Cross, DFACS, Camp Little Shot, Macon Outreach, BeadforLife/Mayan Hands, Miracle League, Backpack Ministries, RBI Baseball, and Aunt Maggie's Kitchen Table.

Even as we take a summer break between school years, we are planning for exciting opportunities for the future. The start of the 2017-2018 school session will mark our school's 58th year. We will see the opening of the Stratford Student Activities Center, formerly the Lower School. Students will progress from one grade and division to another and we will graduate a large senior class of nearly 90 students. I cannot wait to see what else the year will hold for each of our students.

Many, many sincere thanks for the time, talents and resources you invest in Stratford Academy and our mission of seeing each student reach his/her fullest potential. Again, I am proud of each and every Stratford student and all that he/she has accomplished this year.